MCA OOW Yachts Less Than 3000gt - Sea Service, Modules & Oral

Prerequisites

This lesson covers the MCA Officer of the Watch (Yachts less than 3000gt) Certificate of Competency, the first full STCW deck officer certificate on the large yacht ladder. Before starting you should:

• Have read the lessons on going commercial and on Master 200; the commercial endorsement, STCW basic safety, ENG1, HELM and the Notice of Eligibility process are assumed.
• Be at least 19 years old (MSN 1858, section 3.3(a)); service only counts from age 16.
• Hold, or be working towards, an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence plus the Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased course completion certificate, or an IYT Master of Yachts Limited (MSN 1858, section 3.3(b)). The shorebased certificate is waived only for Yachtmaster Offshore certificates issued before 31 July 2003.
• Understand gross tonnage and load line length, because every limit in this certificate is expressed in them.
• Be comfortable with the Coastal and Offshore collision-avoidance, radar and watchkeeping material, which the OOW oral examines at a professional standard.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Explain what the OOW (Yachts less than 3000gt) certificate is and what role it qualifies you for.
• State the sea service requirement in full: 36 months of yacht service, 365 days on vessels of 15 m or more, with the 250-day actual sea service minimum and the allowances for yard and standby service.
• Describe the Training Record Book and the exemption from it.
• List the required courses: the RYA Yachtmaster certificates, Navigation and Radar, General Ship Knowledge, Efficient Deck Hand, HELM (Operational), GMDSS GOC, ECDIS, Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats, Advanced Fire Fighting, Medical First Aid and the basic safety modules.
• Set out the OOW oral examination syllabus.
• Explain how large-yacht sea service is verified and why.
• Plan the certificate as a sequence of courses, service and exams over a realistic period.

What an OOW Is

On a yacht over 24 m under the Large Commercial Yacht Code, the deck department is organised like a ship's: a master, a chief officer (mate) and one or more officers of the watch, with deckhands below them. The Officer of the Watch is the officer in charge of the bridge for a watch at sea or in charge of the deck in port, responsible to the master for the safe navigation of the vessel during that watch. It is a licensed role: STCW Regulation II/1 requires the holder of an OOW certificate to have completed approved training, sea service and examination.

The MCA OOW (Yachts less than 3000gt) CoC qualifies you to serve as OOW on yachts under 3000gt in an unlimited area (MSN 1858, section 2.1). It is issued under STCW Regulation II/1 at the operational level, and the certificate lists three STCW functions, each marked "O": Navigation (function 1), Controlling the operation of the ship and care for persons on board (function 3) and Radiocommunications (function 7) (MSN 1858, section 2.4). Chief Mate and Master certificates move functions 1 and 3 to the management level, marked "M". The certificate covers commercial yachts under the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code and private yachts, in both cases 24 m load line length and over, under 3000gt, carrying no cargo and no more than 12 passengers (MSN 1858, section 1.3). It is the gateway to Chief Mate and Master (Yachts), and most professional deck careers on large yachts run through it. Until the OOW is obtained, deck crew on large yachts serve as deckhands, bosuns or (on the smaller vessels) under the Master 200 or OOW (Yachts less than 500gt) certificate.

Sea Service

The sea service requirement is the long pole in the OOW timetable. You need:

• 36 months of onboard yacht service since the age of 16 (MSN 1858, section 3.3(c)), on yachts of any flag, of which
• 365 days must be sea service on vessels of 15 m or more in load line length, of which
• at least 250 days must be actual sea service (the vessel at sea), the balance of up to 115 days being made up of
• further seagoing service, and/or
• up to 90 days of yard service (standing by a build, refit or repair), continuously or in separate periods, and/or
• stand-by service, the time immediately after a voyage while the vessel is prepared for the next one, counted in blocks of no more than 14 consecutive days and never longer than the voyage before it (MSN 1858, section 4.2).

At least six months of the qualifying seagoing service must fall within the five years before the MCA receives the application, and the same test is applied again when the NOE is issued and when the CoC is issued (MSN 1858, sections 4.1, 9.2 and 11.1). A long career break can therefore block the issue of a CoC even after you have passed the oral.

The definitions in MSN 1858, section 4.2, decide what counts:

A month is a calendar month, or 30 days where it is built from shorter periods (MSN 1858, section 4.3).

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Points on counting:

• Yacht service is the 36-month total and includes time aboard in port, in the yard and on standby as well as at sea; it is the calendar measure of your time in the industry.
• Load line length is close to the waterline length and is on the vessel's tonnage or load line certificate. A 15 m load line length is roughly a 17 to 18 m yacht overall.
• Service in a dual deck and engine role counts at 50 per cent (MSN 1858, section 4.1), and total stand-by can never exceed actual sea time claimed.
• A worked count: a 10-day crossing followed by 20 days in a marina preparing for the next charter gives 10 seagoing days and only 10 stand-by days (not 14, because stand-by cannot exceed the voyage before it). The other 10 days count only as onboard yacht service.
• Service on vessels under 15 m counts towards the 36 months but not towards the 365 days.

The Training Record Book

Unless you can show 36 months of actual seagoing service on vessels of at least 24 m load line length, you must complete an MCA Yacht Training Record Book (TRB) (MSN 1858, section 3.3). For a first CoC the completed TRB goes in with the NOE application, and you must be able to produce it to the examiner at the oral (MSN 1858, sections 9.4 and 10.1). Training providers usually advise allowing at least six months to complete it. The TRB is a structured record of tasks performed and competences demonstrated under the supervision of a qualified officer, signed off aboard. It is available from the MCA; Marine Information Note MIN 521 clarified the exemption wording when MSN 1858 replaced the earlier guidance. Start it early: a TRB left to the last six months is hard to complete while also doing the job.

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The Certificate Stack

The OOW application needs the following, all in date on the day the MCA receives it.

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The Navigation and Radar and GSK modules each end in a written examination set by the awarding body for the MCA yacht modules; a course completion certificate is not enough, you must also hold the pass certificate. Module and exam pass certificates are valid for three years and must still be in date when the CoC is issued (MSN 1858, section 6.5), so sequence them close to the application. Two more rules from section 6: you need at least 90 per cent classroom attendance to complete a module (section 6.3), and if you fail a module exam you get one re-sit without repeating the course, provided it is within 12 months; fail again and you must retake the module (section 6.7).

The EDH 18-month rule catches people out. Someone who does EDH in the month before applying cannot be issued the CoC until 18 months later, however good their oral. Do EDH early, ideally in your first two years.

The Oral Examination

You apply on form MSF 4343 with the fee, an ENG1, an attested copy of your passport, photos, verified service, the basic safety certificates and the completed TRB (MSN 1858, sections 8 and 9.3 to 9.4). The MCA then issues a Notice of Eligibility (NOE), valid for five years, which lets you book the OOW (Yachts less than 3000gt) oral. Take your passport to the exam. A pass is valid for three years and must be in date when the CoC is issued (MSN 1858, sections 9.5 to 10.5).

If you fail, you need a new NOE and fee. The second attempt can be no sooner than two weeks after the first, the third no sooner than two weeks after that, and later attempts at least three months apart. Where a candidate shows a lack of basic competence or makes fundamental safety errors, the examiner can require extra sea service before a re-sit (MSN 1858, sections 10.6 to 10.8).

The published syllabus has three sections.

Section 1: Navigation

• Plan and conduct a passage and determine position: passage planning with the publications; IALA A and B; the limitations and errors of electronic systems, ECDIS and RCDS; radar and ARPA in practice; the sextant and its errors; azimuth mirror and pelorus; meteorological sources and interpretation; checking position and taking corrective action; variation and deviation; fixing by bearings and radar ranges; magnetic course and ETA; weekly notices to mariners; tidal heights at any time; tidal set and rate.
• Maintain a safe navigational watch: watchkeeping at sea including under pilotage; the collision regulations; bridge equipment including rate of turn indicators, course recorders, echo sounder and NAVTEX; steering control and autopilot procedures; the ICS Bridge Procedures Guide and STCW Code A-VIII; AIS principles, limitations and modes; the navigational record; handover and relief.
• Manoeuvre the ship: getting under way and harbour procedures; use and care of mooring lines; helm orders and conning; propeller effects, wind and current, stopping, turning, interaction and squat; pilot embarkation; failures of bridge control, telegraph or steering; anchoring.

Section 2: Response to emergencies

• Navigational emergencies: first actions after man overboard, collision, grounding, flooding or mechanical damage; receipt of distress; damage assessment and control; protecting the environment; the IAMSAR manual; distress signals and search and rescue in the UK and worldwide.
• Other emergencies: emergency parties and drills; fire prevention and appliances; shutdown and isolation of plant; escape and breathing apparatus; fire and safety plans; classes of fire; lifesaving appliances including hand-held radios, EPIRBs, SARTs and immersion suits; line-throwing apparatus; survival craft markings and launching; rescue boat recovery; passenger safety; survival; medical information sources.
• Communications: distress and emergency signals; the International Code of Signals; IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases; GMDSS.

Section 3: Onboard ship operations

• Pollution prevention: MARPOL precautions, special areas, disposal of pollutants; the SOPEP manual, garbage management plan and anti-pollution equipment.
• Seaworthiness: watertight integrity and closing procedures; preparation for heavy weather; the effects on stability of weight changes, low freeboard, deck obstructions and slack tanks.
• Legislative requirements: Merchant Shipping Notices, Marine Guidance Notes and Marine Information Notes; health and safety legislation and the Code of Safe Working Practices; IMO conventions; the ISM Code; flag and port state control; the ISPS Code.
• Business and law: the Small Vessels code and the Large Commercial Yacht Code; musters and drills; the legal duty of seaworthiness; salvage; safe manning, hours of work and watchkeeping; crew agreements.

The depth is greater than at Master 200. A candidate is expected to know the Bridge Procedures Guide, to explain how an ARPA acquires and tracks a target and what its limitations are, to quote the hours-of-rest rules, and to describe the ISM Code's purpose and the documents it generates aboard.

Watchkeeping Standards

Because the certificate is about keeping a watch, the oral returns again and again to watchkeeping practice. The checklist below is the kind of handover the examiner expects you to describe.

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Elements: the vessel's position by at least two means, course and speed, the traffic situation and any vessels being tracked, the weather and visibility and the forecast, the state of the navigation equipment and any defects, the master's standing orders and night orders, the passage plan and the next waypoint, any hazards or reporting points coming up, the state of machinery and any work in progress on deck, and the relieving officer's confirmation that they have adjusted to the conditions (night vision, in particular) before taking over. An OOW who is in any doubt calls the master; the standing orders will say when, and the examiner will ask.

MGN 315 (Keeping a Safe Navigational Watch) sets out the MCA's position on lookouts, and examiners expect you to know it:

• The OOW is responsible for safe navigation during the watch, with particular concern for avoiding collision and stranding and for preventing pollution (MGN 315, para 2.5).
• The MCA considers it dangerous and irresponsible for the OOW to be sole lookout in darkness or restricted visibility (MGN 315, para 2.6). STCW implies that a separate dedicated lookout is kept whenever the ship is under way.
• The helmsman is not the lookout, except on small vessels with an unobstructed all-round view from the steering position and no loss of night vision (MGN 315, para 8.2).
• In clear daylight the master may decide that the OOW can be sole lookout, but only after assessing weather, visibility, traffic, nearby dangers, traffic separation schemes, bridge layout, radar limitations and distractions such as GMDSS traffic, phones, email, logs and chart corrections. Help must be available to be called to the bridge immediately (MGN 315, para 8.3).

On a yacht this matters directly: a lone officer on the bridge at night while the rest of the crew are busy with guests is exactly the arrangement MGN 315 calls irresponsible.

Case study: alone on the bridge

MAIB Safety Digest 1/2008 (a 2008 publication, but the lessons still apply) describes a 3000grt combi-freighter crossing a traffic lane at night in rough seas at 11.5 knots. The master was keeping the watch himself and was alone on the bridge. Once clear of the traffic separation scheme he went to his cabin for about 30 seconds to fetch paperwork, came back, sat in the bridge chair and fell asleep. The ship passed very close to a lightship and ran aground 18 minutes later. The chief engineer reached the bridge first; no call was made to the coastguard and the general alarm was not sounded.

The lessons for an OOW: a comfortable chair, darkness and a lone watch are a recipe for sleep; a lookout or a working bridge watch alarm is a check on the OOW, not a luxury; and the immediate actions after a grounding (general alarm, fix the position, sound round the tanks, report) are in the oral syllabus under navigational emergencies because they are so often missed. Another case in the same digest, a collision in fog, reached the same conclusion from a different angle: a master busy with communications and navigation should have called another officer to the bridge.

Verifying Large-Yacht Sea Service

MSN 1858, section 4.4, requires documentary proof of onboard yacht service and seagoing service: a discharge book with testimonials, certificates of discharge with testimonials, or an MCA-approved service record book. Testimonials must cover your conduct and ability for the last 12 months of service before the application, must be verifiable, and must be signed by the master (or, for service as master, by the owner or a responsible person in the management company). Fraudulent service records lead to rejection, possible prosecution and a ban on re-applying (MSN 1858, section 12). Seafarers who failed to join a vessel, left it other than on discharge, or committed misconduct must show two further years of good-conduct service before an NOE is issued (section 4.4).

On top of that, the MCA has delegated verification of sea service on large yachts to the Professional Yachting Association (PYA) and Nautilus International under MIN 543. Every seafarer in the large yacht sector, whether or not a member, must have their sea service verified by one of them before it is sent to the MCA with a Notice of Eligibility application. Both organisations issue MCA-approved Service Record Books, and a properly completed Nautilus Service Record Book is accepted by the MCA without separate testimonials or discharge certificates. Applications that arrive at the MCA without verification suffer delays of around 160 days.

The practical rule: get a Service Record Book at the start of your career, have every period of service entered and signed by the master before you leave the vessel, and keep copies of every testimonial.

Gross Tonnage and Length in Practice

The chart below shows where typical yachts fall against the thresholds that name the certificates. Tonnage depends heavily on beam and enclosed volume, so lengths are only indicative.

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A 24 m load line length is close to the point at which the Large Commercial Yacht Code applies in place of the small vessel codes, and it is the length used in the TRB exemption and in the Master (Yachts less than 3000gt) service requirement.

Worked Example: A Deckhand's Route to OOW

Ben joins a 45 m motor yacht (about 450gt, 40 m load line length) as a deckhand straight after his Yachtmaster Offshore and STCW basic safety. His plan:

His 365 days on a vessel over 15 m are met many times over (480 days at sea alone), his 250 actual sea days are met, his 36 months of yacht service are met at month 36, the TRB is complete, and all module passes are within three years. The one risk he manages is the three-year validity of the Navigation and Radar and GSK passes: he sits them in year 3, not year 1.

Common Mistakes

• Counting yacht service as sea service. 36 months aboard is not 365 days at sea; the 250 actual days are the binding constraint for crew on yachts that rarely move.
• Service on vessels under 15 m load line length counted towards the 365 days. It only counts towards the 36 months.
• Starting the TRB too late. Minimum six months, in practice longer.
• Modules too early. Navigation and Radar and GSK passes are valid for three years.
• Unverified service. The 160-day delay is real.
• Doing EDH last. The EDH certificate must be at least 18 months old when the CoC is issued.
• Assuming Yachtmaster Coastal is enough. MSN 1858 requires Yachtmaster Offshore (or IYT Master of Yachts Limited) for the OOW CoC.
• Counting all marina time after a passage as stand-by. Stand-by is capped at 14 consecutive days and at the length of the previous voyage.
• Thinking the OOW oral is Master 200 again. The Bridge Procedures Guide, ISM, ARPA theory, hours of rest and the legislative framework are examined in depth.
• An ENG1 with restrictions. Check early. MSF 4343 states that a candidate who is unable to take a solo watch or is not fit for lookout duties will not be issued a UK deck officer CoC.

Summary

• OOW (Yachts less than 3000gt) is the STCW II/1 deck officer certificate for yachts up to 3000gt, the gateway to Chief Mate and Master (Yachts).
• Sea service: 36 months of yacht service; 365 days on vessels of 15 m or more load line length, of which at least 250 are actual sea days, with up to 90 yard days and standby in blocks of up to 14 days; six months within the last five years; a Training Record Book over at least six months unless you have 36 months of actual sea service on vessels of 24 m or more.
• Certificates: STCW basic safety, Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased, Yachtmaster Offshore (or IYT Master of Yachts Limited), PSCRB or the restricted survival craft CoP, Advanced Fire Fighting, Medical First Aid, GOC, Navigation and Radar (theory, pass and simulator), GSK (course and pass), EDH, HELM (Operational), ECDIS and ENG1; module passes valid three years.
• Large-yacht service must be verified by PYA or Nautilus (MIN 543); keep a Service Record Book from day one.
• The NOE is valid for five years, the oral pass for three, module passes for three; the EDH must be at least 18 months old at issue; the CoC itself runs for five years.
• MGN 315: no sole lookout at night or in restricted visibility.
• The oral covers navigation (passage, watchkeeping, manoeuvring), response to emergencies (navigational, other, communications) and onboard operations (pollution, seaworthiness, legislation, business and law) at a professional depth.

Check Your Understanding

1. State the OOW (Yachts less than 3000gt) sea service requirement in full.

Answer: 36 months of yacht service on vessels of any size, including 365 days of sea service on vessels of 15 m or more in load line length, of which at least 250 days must be actual sea service; the remaining 115 days may be made up of up to 90 days of yard service and standby service in periods of up to 14 consecutive days. At least six months of qualifying service must be within the five years before the application.

1. When is a Training Record Book not required?

Answer: When the candidate can demonstrate 36 months of actual sea service on vessels of at least 24 m in load line length, as clarified by MIN 521.

1. Which two modules require both a course completion and a separate written pass, and how long are the passes valid?

Answer: OOW Navigation and Radar (theory, plus the simulator course) and OOW General Ship Knowledge; the passes are valid for three years.

1. What is the difference between the GOC and the ROC, and which does the OOW need?

Answer: The ROC covers VHF/DSC operation for sea area A1; the GOC covers the full GMDSS including MF/HF and satellite for areas A2 to A4. The OOW requires the GOC.

1. What restriction applies to Advanced Sea Survival when used in place of PSCRB?

Answer: It carries the restriction "not for use on ships equipped with davit-launched lifeboats".

1. Why must large-yacht sea service be verified before it reaches the MCA, and by whom?

Answer: Under MIN 543 the MCA has delegated verification to the Professional Yachting Association and Nautilus International for all seafarers in the large yacht sector; unverified service causes delays of around 160 days.

1. Name four items an OOW must cover in a watch handover.

Answer: Any four of: position by two means; course and speed; traffic and tracked targets; weather, visibility and forecast; equipment state and defects; master's standing and night orders; passage plan and next waypoint; upcoming hazards and reporting points; machinery state and work in progress; the relief's adjustment to conditions.

1. A deckhand has 30 months aboard a 20 m yacht and 10 months aboard a 12 m yacht, with 300 days at sea on the 20 m yacht. Does she meet the service requirement?

Answer: Yes on all counts: 40 months of yacht service (over 36); 300 actual sea days on a vessel over 15 m load line length (over 250 and, with yard or standby days, over 365 can be reached, or 365 actual if she has them). The 12 m yacht counts only towards the 36 months. She still needs the TRB unless exempt.

1. Which oral syllabus section covers the ISM Code, and what will the examiner expect?

Answer: Section 3, onboard ship operations, under legislative requirements. The examiner expects the candidate to explain the purpose and application of the ISM Code and the safety management system documents it produces aboard.

1. Why does a restricted ENG1 matter for this certificate?

Answer: A valid medical fitness certificate is required for every CoC (MSN 1858, section 7), and MSF 4343 states that a candidate unable to take a solo watch or unfit for lookout duties will not be issued a UK deck officer CoC. Colour vision and visual acuity are tested, so have the medical before investing in training.

Sources

• MCA, MSN 1858 (M) Amendment 1: Training and Certification Guidance, UK Requirements for Deck Officers on Large Yachts (24 m and over).
• MCA, MSF 4343: Application for a Certificate of Competency, Yacht Deck, and oral examination.
• MCA, MGN 315: Keeping a Safe Navigational Watch on Merchant Vessels.
• MAIB, Safety Digest 1/2008 (older case material; the lessons are still current).

Further Reading

• HSS: requirements for OOW (Yachts) less than 3000gt: sea service breakdown, certificates, TRB and oral.
• gov.uk: certification for deck officers on commercial and private yachts: official routes, required courses, module validity.
• MSN 1858 Amendment 1 and MIN 521: service definitions and the TRB exemption.
• MCA oral syllabus: OOW (yachts less than 3000gt).
• MIN 543: sea service verification on large yachts and Nautilus sea service verification guide.
• HELM (Operational).
• Bluewater: yacht deck career progression chart.
• Boat International: gross tonnage explained.